Half Life: Xen's Point of View
by Yarp.And.Narp
Summary: The humans have stolen a very important Xen artifact, right from the throne-room of the master himself. A novelization of the Half-Life mod, "Point of View" Please note that I do not own rights to the mod or the game, I just play them.
1. Reckless Pursuit Part 1 of 3

Hλlf-Life: PΘΙΠΤ ΘF VIΣЩ

Chapter One: Reckless Pursuit

Disclaimer:

Half-Life is owned by Valve.

Point of View is owned by Toadman, DAV & Doc Brown.

* * *

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

"Radio Transmissions"

_*Alien Speech*_

"_**Alien Speech(Translated)"**_

* * *

A snippet of Nihilanth's Proclamation, at the dawn of the Great Invasion:

"_**My children, my followers, my citizens, the time has come; the threshold has been crossed. Our home, our realm, our sanctuary, has been befouled, and tainted. The prophecies have come true: The borderworld has come to devour us all, and the Great Invasion is upon us."**_

* * *

The Xenian factory sat in near-silence, save for the buzzing of the teleporter, churning of lifts, and chattering of various Xenizens. One such creature, a vortigaunt, continued his tedious work of managing one of the barrels containing Alien Grunts, the backbone of the Xenian ground forces. Xonxt finished inspecting the barrel, and the conveyor moved, sending the barrel to places unknown to him. Xonxt waited in anticipation for the next barrel, but a telepathic message delivered by his controller sent him elsewhere.

Meanwhile, the humans sent a small strike team into the Nihilanth's "throne room", where a sacred Xen object was held. The HEV-clad scientists crept in, and one picked the Xen Techno-Biotic Unit, the Xenian secret weapon developed personally by Nihilanth and Xonxt, out of its' cradle. Almost immediately, combat erupted. Xen Controllers flung energy balls at the scientists, Vortigaunts jolted them with electricity. But, the scientists weren't unarmed, and returned fire with MP5's & shotguns, the booming reports echoing throughout the immense chamber.

Xonxt approached a seemingly ordinary wall, then, before his eyes, it flashed bright and disappeared, replaced with a door. It opened, revealing a cave lit with blue jet-lights. Xonxt followed the sounds of combat until he reached the battlefield. Spotting the lead scientist, he drew his hands together, green beams of electricity arcing in random directions, emanating from them. Leading the target slightly, Xonxt shoved his hands forward, and scored a direct hit. The scientist crumpled to the ground, twitching, and the XTBU clattered to the floor. It showed no signs of damage, but the scientist, however, wasn't as lucky. The chest of his HEV suit was charred, small arcs of electricity still dancing between its' plates. His eyes were wide open, a shocked(no pun intended) expression on his face, now visible through his nearly disintegrated visor.

The scientist directly behind him scooped up the unit, and in one fell swoop, sprayed a hail of bullets at Xonxt. Rounds pinged around the Vortigaunt, but he felt about 13 punch him in the chest. His breathing labored, he drew his hands together, charging another attack. The scientist sped out of the chamber. Xonxt looked up, let the energy dissipate, and was stunned to see all of his comrades, dead.

* * *

Author's Notes:

I haven't played POV, so parts of this might be altered slightly from the actual mod. Sorry to those of you who played it and are ticked off at me for doing this. Review and tell me what you think so far. All criticism welcome! :)


	2. Reckless Pursuit Part 2 of 3

Hλlf-Life: PΘΙΠΤ ΘF VIΣЩ

Chapter Two: Reckless Pursuit(Part 2 of 3)

Disclaimer:

Half-Life is owned by Valve.

Point of View is owned by Toadman, DAV & Doc Brown.

* * *

Xonxt retreated to another tunnel, after a brief moment of mourning for his dead allies. On the other side, he spotted the scientist he was shot by only moments earlier. Charging another attack, determination and rage guiding him, he unleashed another bolt. It connected with the scientist's helmet, vaporizing it, revealing a fairly young man, with matte-black hair & sideburns. The shock to his nervous system caused him to depress the trigger on his MP5, and 50 rounds of 9mm ammo flying towards Xonxt. He dove to the left as the lead harmlessly zipped past him & _thunk_ed into the wall behind him. Before the noise of the gunshots dissipated, the scientist fell to the ground, dead. Something exploded behind Xonxt, and one of the 2 remaining scientists screamed. Xonxt turned, and saw a vehicle moving to his left. Xonxt took it to be of human design, and started charging another electric bolt. As he shoved his hands forward, humans clad in green armor attacked, firing their MP5's & shotguns, and lobbing grenades. One landed next to Xonxt, who only needed a millisecond to assess that the device was a highly dangerous threat, and dove for cover. The grenade went off just as Xonxt hit the ground, shrapnel flew everywhere, and heat washed over the vortigaunt. Xonxt got up, again attempted to charge, and fired at the one soldier out of cover. The beam struck him in the neck, blood initially flash-boiled, but more poured out. He dropped to the ground, and his comrades took offense to the fact that this... _thing_, was slaughtering them.

They opened fire, spraying whatever available ammo they had at the creature, but in their rage, they missed every shot. One of the soldiers, a cigar hanging out of his mouth, aimed his weapon upwards, and another grenade careened towards Xonxt. He couldn't dive out of the way this time, and ended up running for his life. He was safely in the tunnel when the explosive went off. Bright light filled the tunnel for a brief second, and the smell of burnt rock permeated Xonxt's "nostrils"(if you could call them that). He crept out, looked for the soldiers, but they weren't there. Instead, Xen Masters & Alien Grunts roamed, some of the Grunts eating the corpses, tearing chunks of flesh from bone with their third arm, a feature commonly seen in Xen Masters, Vortigaunts, the Nihilanth, Grunts, and more recently, Gargantuas. Xonxt saw a green flash, heard the crackling/exploding sound associated with a teleportation event, and saw a fellow Vortigaunt appear next to him. He placed his right arm near the floor, "palm" down, and raised it slowly, a sign of greeting among Vortigaunts. His companion did the same, and then raised his right arm, and brought it down & left. Suddenly, a bridge extended between the section they were standing on, and the section adjacent to it. Xonxt and his companion headed across the chasm. They split up, Xonxt going right, the other Vort going left. He exited the tunnel, only to see the surviving scientist, holding the XTBU, enter a portal. Xonxt followed, greenish-orange light enveloping him, as the tide of battle turned...

In Xen's favor.

* * *

Authors Notes:

I haven't played POV, so parts of this might be altered slightly from the actual mod. Sorry to those of you who played it and are ticked off at me for doing this. But, the awesome Garg/Tank scene will be in chapter 3! It _WILL_!! Review and tell me what you think so far. All criticism welcome! :)


	3. Reckless Pursuit Part 3 of 3

HλLF-LIFE: PΘIΠT ΘF VIΣЩ

Chapter 3: Reckless Pursuit (Part 3 of 3)

Disclaimer:

Half-Life belongs to Valve.

Point of View belongs to DAV, Toadman & Doc Brown.

* * *

Xonxt saw the landscape before him through the orange/green strobe lights. He was in a canyon directly outside the factory. The lights faded quickly, and looking to his right, he saw the same vehicle he witnessed some time ago.

Its' turret turned towards him, and fired. High-powered bullets struck Xonxt in the chest & stomach, knocking the wind out of him, and sending him to the ground. He heard the engine start up, and saw the tank attempting to crush him under its' treads. He telepathically prayed to Nihilanth, to give him the same peace the higher Xen powers were given when _they_ died, and then...

Thundering footsteps shook Xonxt out of his reverie.

Turning to his left, he saw a large blue creature, its' metal carapace glimmering, even in the dull light of the canyon. The tank fired at the Gargantua, but to no avail, as its' shell was permeable by only the most powerful of human weapons. It roared, shaking the ground further, so much so that Xonxt feared it would crumble and send them all into the abyss. Thankfully, the ground held together. Bullets sparked harmlessly against the Garg, which only served to anger it more.

It roared again, its' single eye glowing a fierce, dangerous red. It aimed its' arms at the tank, and the huge claws that served as hands opened up, jets of searing white flame melting through the tank's armor and detonating the extra fuel tanks, blowing the gun to pieces. The garg then picked up the flaming vehicle and hurled it with ease at the retreating soldiers. They dodged the immense projectile, cursing and shouting at the metal alien giant before them. They fired all manner of weapons at it, pellets & bullets bouncing off its' "skin". Grenades detonated in the abomination's face, blinding it, and under its' feet, blowing its' lower half away. It crashed to the ground, alien blood pooling rapidly around it.

One soldier, who was taking cover behind the wrecked tank with his comrades, strode out into the open, MP5 trained on Xonxt's head.

"Die, scumbag!"

Xonxt ducked behind a large pillar as the soldier fired. Bullets zipped past the Vortigaunt into the tunnel. As soon as he heard the soldier reloading his weapon, Xonxt attacked. Rather than wasting precious time charging another electricity attack, he instead opted for clawing the grunt's face to bits.

"Sh*t! Get OFF ME!! _HELP!_"

*_Die, scum!_*

With one last swipe of his claws, the soldier was dead. Xonxt let him fall to the ground, now suddenly aware of how much blood he had lost.

Xonxt shambled forward, red blood dripping from his claws, yellow from his chest. Faintly, through his blurred vision(when did that happen?), he spied a healing pool. New energy rising within him, he ran to the pool, translucent blueish-purple liquid swirling gently within it. Xonxt took a couple steps in, and sighed as he felt the microorganisms already working to repair his wounds.

As he walked even further forward, a Manta Ship flew overhead. Xonxt wrinkled his face in the best imitation of a grin he could. As he continued to an unnatural-looking cave, he heard machinery whir into life. Two small cylinders rose from elevated posts in the ground, gun barrels sticking out. A small red light on each of them glowed, the sensory systems beeping. The beeps quickly stopped as they identified Xonxt as a threat. Without a moment's hesitation, they opened fire. Bullets tore through the air, many smacking Xonxt in the face & chest, many more hitting the ground, some ricocheting into space or solid rock.

Xonxt ducked behind a large Xen Fungus, panting.

'_Accursed technology_' Xonxt thought bitterly. '_These humans have ravaged the natural world. Their unholy sentries, it is BLASPHEMY!'_

Xonxt took a moment to calm himself. No need to get worked up when there's a job to be done.

He heard the beeping slow down, then stop, replaced with the machines whirring to "unholy sleep", as Xonxt put it. He ran as fast as he could to the healing pool, letting the miniscule creatures work on his wounded face & chest. When _those_ wounds were fixed, he went back out in front of the turrets. Charging another attack, he fired at the first turret just as it wound up. It stayed online for a few seconds, firing erratically. Xonxt ducked, and watched with primal glee as the gun tore holes in its' partner. Then they shut down, sparks flying from their damaged circuitry.

He walked through the tunnel, spying a military truck, and after a quick survey of the vehicle, he found no technology he could salvage for his own use. Walking further through the tunnel, he felt something hard strike him in the back. He fell to the ground, and turned as best as he could to face his attacker. A human in blue this time.

"Die, you bloodsucker," the guard said, unholstering his weapon.

*_Human!_* the Vort spat. _*You die__!*_

Without warning, the human was lifted from Xonxt's back. He heard something like a low gurgle, then the guard scream as he was ripped clean in half by an alien grunt.

Xonxt curled his third arm inward, then formed a circle with his left, Vortigese signing for "Thanks".

The grunt returned the gesture, then took one half of the human with him. Xonxt eyed the other half, the human's hand was still clutching his weapon. Xonxt felt a small pang of hunger. Cocking his head to one side, he contemplated the chance of the gun going off and alerting the others, and, realizing that there _were_ no others in the tunnel, he began eating the corpse.

After his hunger was satisfied, he continued into the tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, he saw a door, unguarded. Expecting to have to claw it down, it slid open compliantly.

'_Hm, maybe the humans' technology isn't as bad as once thought,_' Xonxt remarked.

The door slid shut, and Xonxt found himself trapped in a human facility, the only safe exit, locked.

Xonxt's liking for technology vanished as quickly as it appeared.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

I think I combined the ending of this chapter with "Step Into My Parlor", Chapter 2 of the Point of View mod, but considering I've never played the mod & have been scraping by with walkthrough videos instead of playing it myself, I'd say it's pretty good. Review & comment. Criticism welcome! :)


	4. Step Into My Parlor Part 1 of 2

HλLF-LIFE: PΘIΠT ΘF VIΣЩ

Chapter 4: Step Into My Parlor(Part 1 of 2)

Disclaimer:

Half-Life belongs to Valve.

Point of View belongs to Toadman, DAV & Doc Brown.

* * *

Xonxt pressed on, the tunnel now bathed in a reddish glow due to his nightvision being active. Not far from the first door did he find a larger pair of doors. They didn't open for him this time, instead needing a certain code to be input in a control panel conviently next to the doors. Xonxt gutted said panel, and to his suprise, the doors opened! The next area was well-lit, so Xonxt disengaged his nightvision, lessening the strain on his eyes.

Today seemed to be chock-full of suprises, because when he rounded the corner, two more soldiers, this time clad in gray-brown armor with black visors, opened fire on the Vortigaunt. Their weapons were different than those the previous soldiers carried. They were larger, and hit harder too. Xonxt ignored the pain, charged, and fried the first soldier. The second was nowhere to be seen.

'_Coward_,' Xonxt thought.

He crept around the corner, and slit the soldier's throat. His voice was unintelligible through the gurgling, but Xonxt thought he heard a curse or two. He shook his head.

'_There's a time for making friends later, Xonxt. Now's not that time_.'

He jogged further down the tunnel, and came across a large room, with 3 more of the trucks he saw earlier, and even more dark soldiers. He'd been hoping to sneak past them, but the gunfire from earlier alerted them to his presence.

"SQUAD, WE'VE GOT HOSTILES!"

About half a dozen soldiers fired at Xonxt, some with the large rifles, others with pistols. They died the same.

Xonxt searched for a way out, and was rewarded with a door. He pushed it open, and went down the stairs. At the bottom, he came across a train. One of the doors was open, and before walking in, he spotted two soda machines across from said door. He pushed the top-most button, and a red soda can fell to the bottom. Picking it up, Xonxt eyed the container curiously. Unable to open it any other way, he settled for poking a hole in the top with his claw. Holding the can to his mouth, he sucked the fizzy drink out the hole. It tasted sweet, and the fizz from the carbonation wasn't unpleasant. He finished the drink, satisfied with having quenched his thirst with something other than blood & water for once, and stepped inside the train.

The door closed behind him, and when he tried the other doors, they were locked. Then, the train started moving. To where, Xonxt didn't know, but what he did know was it couldn't be anywhere good. The door infront of Xonxt opened, and one of the dark soldiers opened fire. Xonxt charged another electric shock and killed said soldier. Xonxt continued through the train. As he neared the front, he could hear train-crossing bells. Still he moved through the train. More soldiers fired at him. He fried them too and pressed forward. He saw some of his companions in cages. One beat on the glass, trying his hardest to escape, but to no avail. Xonxt came to a door marked "03" and looked out the window of the train when it stopped. Two more of the dark soldiers approached a human in a blue suit, holding a briefcase. Xonxt wondered if this one was the humans' counterpart to the Nihilanth. One of the dark soldiers held a small chrome sphere.

The XTBU!

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

This chapter I strangely remember pretty well. I included the soda part just for laughs. I thought it'd be funny if Xonxt, instead of slashing & zapping everything in sight, tried something new peacefully. Can you guess who the briefcase man is?


	5. Step Into My Parlor Part 2 of 2

HλLF-LIFE: PΘIΠT ΘF VIΣЩ

Chapter 5: Step Into My Parlor(Part 2 of 2)

Disclaimer:

Half-Life belongs to Valve.

Point of View belongs to Toadman, DAV & Doc Brown.

* * *

_One of the dark soldiers held a small chrome sphere._

_The XTBU!_

"Sir, we've got the objective."

"_That'_ssss why I'm here. I am im_pre_sssssed." The suited man spoke as if he didn't grasp the humans' tongue with the same fluidity the others did. He put emphasis on the wrong syllables, and the "s" sound was elongated, like a snake. Even to Xonxt's ears, it sounded... wrong.

Xonxt blinked, and wondered just what he had referenced. A snake? He had to find out what that was later.

The suit turned to face Xonxt, and the soldier holding the XTBU walked, probably to the large door he saw earlier. The suited man walked to the train, looked it over, and then walked away himself. The other soldiers walked to the doors of the train.

"In position, over," one of them said.

"Roger that," came the response.

Xonxt heard one door open, then saw the one next to the window open. The soldiers attacked, but like the others, Xonxt took care of them quickly and without incident.

Or so he thought.

3...

2...

1...

"MOVE IN!!!"

The door marked '03' opened, and 3 soldiers poured in. Xonxt was pelted with bullets, but succeded in killing the trio. 3 more poured in through the door Xonxt just cleaned out. Xonxt noticed they wore the same suits the scientists wore, just gray-scale. Xonxt treated them the same he had all the other soldiers & scientists. Then, he went back to the cages. He managed to bust the glass and set his comrades free. They ran to the large door the suited man & the soldiers who stole the XTBU escaped through.

It was locked.

The other Vorts snarled & clawed & beat at the door, but it didn't budge. Xonxt looked elsewhere, and was rewarded with a hole in the wall, protected by short guardrails, almost short enough to simply step over. Xonxt did so, and was now in the familiar tunnels of the homeworld he knew and loved. He continued through the tunnel, and came across a Xen outpost! So maybe all of his comrades weren't captured or dead after all.

That notion was quickly disspelled when the all-too-familiar whine of a sentry turret hit his ears. Diving for cover, Xonxt felt something white-hot slice across his upper back.

He crawled over to another healing pool, and then proceeded to gather electricity. He must have alerted some soldiers, because their familiar radio chatter could be heard, even over the whine of the turrets. He fried one turret, then another, then the soldiers.

After fixing his wounds at the healing pool, he continued.

Arriving in a red-lit hallway, Xonxt went to a door, hoping it would lead to the man in the suit. It didn't, but it _did _lead him into another simulated Xen environment, complete with...

Sentry turrets!!

'_Oh, how I missed you,_'Xonxt thought. He saw a door directly to his right, and quickly ducked inside. He could hear bullets smacking into the wall behind him, and slammed a hand onto the large yellow button next to the doorway, closing it almost instantly. Xonxt heard hissing, and realized he was in what the humans called an "airlock". What purpose it served was beyond him, but there would be time for research later, once he got the XTBU back to the Nihilanth.

He saw the door ahead of him open, and stepped through, expecting more soldiers. There were none, to both his relief & dismay. After checking for a way out, and finding none, he walked to the center of the room, where two rails running vertically, went down, farther than Xonxt could see.

A convenient button was set into a pedestal next to the elevator. He pushed it and waited for the elevator to come. It was excruciatingly slow, so much so that Xonxt almost fell asleep waiting for it. Despite the immense capabilities of the healing pools, they could not rejuvinate the body should it be low on energy from having been active for extended periods of time (AKA "lack of sleep"). Fortunately, the elevator arrived, and Xonxt groggily stepped onto it, and pushed the "down" button. It began its' painfully slow descent, during which the vortigaunt managed to get some well-deserved, if moderately uncomfortable, sleep.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Sorry this chapter took so long. I was caught up in holiday merriment. You know what that's like right? Anyway, this chapter was kinda tough to write, considering there were some parts that I debated for a couple days on whether to cut or not. But here's the finished product.

Push this button right down here for review-age.


	6. Welcome To Earth Part 1

HλLF-LIFE: PΘIΠT ΘF VIΣЩ

Chapter 6: Welcome To Earth (Part 1)

Disclaimer:

Half-Life belongs to Valve.

Point of View belongs to Toadman, DAV & Doc Brown.

* * *

The elevator ground to a clanking halt, rudely awakening Xonxt. He searched wildly around the room, before realizing that the elevator simply reached its' destination. He departed, and came upon a door. There was no control panel, so he assumed it opened automatically whenever someone got close to it. He was right.

It slid open quietly, and Xonxt stepped in. He saw a familiar soda machine to his left, and right next to it was what Xonxt took to be a food vendor. He saw a sequence of numbers and letters under each item, and looked at the control panel on the machine. A snack labeled "C4" looked promising, and Xonxt punched said combo into said control panel. Nothing happened.

He tried again. Still no result. Feeling angry and hungry is usually never a good combination, and Xonxt's situation was no exception. He rammed the glass with his shoulder, and grabbed the candy himself. Peeling the wrapper open with ease, he saw a single bar of... something. He sniffed it experimentally, and bit off a small chunk. It was sweet, like the soda, but about three times more-so. It was a kind of sweetness that could be described as "sickening". Xonxt wondered why the humans would ever eat this, then an idea came to mind.

'_Maybe it's not food, but _poison_!_'

Xonxt dropped the candy bar and zapped it, spitting the small chunk out. He stepped on the smoldering remains, and turned to his left again. He saw a small passageway. Could this lead to the suit & his accomplice, the ones who stole the XTBU?

Xonxt followed his instincts, and the passageway, and came across a chain-link fence, an orange-green ball of light & energy in the middle of a pedestal. Out the corner of his eye, Xonxt saw the very soldier he had wondered about not two seconds ago. He leapt into the portal & disappeared. Xonxt ran after him, and plunged into the portal, just before it collapsed.

...

Xonxt waited in suspended animation, for what felt like an eternity, before the portal dumped him into another laboratory. One scientist screamed,

"NO! I don't want to die!!"

Xonxt's brain caught up with him, and he took in his surroundings.

He was on an elevator, in an orange-lit chamber, surrounded by scientists wearing masks over the majority of their faces, only their eyes showing, and he was still in one piece. Good.

The scientist in front of him pushed a button, and the shutters over the window closed, hiding him from sight. He felt a sudden jolt, and the noise of the elevator's motors stopped.

Looking around for an exit, Xonxt found none, except for a slight blurring of the air in one corner. He put his hands together, once again, green electricity arcing to and from the shackles on his wrists. He shoved his hands forward, the brilliant beam of "lightning" igniting the gas leak, a huge explosion tearing a section of the wall out. The flames died down quickly, and Xonxt followed the tiny passage.

After climbing a rather small ladder, Xonxt arrived on the upper level of the chamber. He killed another scientist and continued on. The door on the right was locked, but not the left.

It opened, revealing a much darker room, and another of the special soldiers. He fired at Xonxt, the pistol booming 3 times, and Xonxt felt 3 bullets hit him, but still managed to kill the soldier.

Bleeding slightly, Xonxt moved forward, hoping he could find something to heal his wounds before he bled to death.

The door the soldier was facing opened, and Xonxt stepped in, killing the two scientists that cowered there.

Continuing forward, Xonxt jogged across a walkway, and overheard one scientist saying,

"It can't get any worse than this!"

Not caring what he was talking about, Xonxt crept up behind the unaware scientist and with a single swipe of his claw, decapitated him.

Though a part of him wanted to simply continue on, Xonxt stayed behind for a moment to offer a prayer for the scientist. Though in Xen's culture & society the humans were viewed as vermin & should be treated as such, Xonxt couldn't help but feel remorse for the scientists he slaughtered. They, like the vort that slew them, were just researching new places and make peace with their cultures. The soldiers and that blue-suited man with the briefcase, _they_ were the true vermin. The scientists were scared out of their minds when Xonxt killed them, as if...

...

As if they were _brainwashed_ into killing the Xenians by the military.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

HAPPY NEW YEAR, PEOPLE! This chapter was kinda tough to write. But here it is!

The idea of Xonxt feeling sorry for killing the scientists, but ticked off at the soldiers & the Gman popped up in my head when I watched the video of Chapter 3 of POV, "Welcome to Earth". I wondered what Xonxt would have been feeling, killing innocent people who looked like they had been _forced_ to gather weapons & fight the Xen army, rather than attempt to make peace with them. More to come in Chapter 7, "Welcome to Earth Part 2"...


	7. Welcome To Earth Part 2

HλLF-LIFE: PΘIΠT ΘF VIΣЩ

Chapter 7: Welcome To Earth (Part 2)

Disclaimer:

Half-Life belongs to Valve.

Point of View belongs to Toadman, DAV & Doc Brown.

* * *

Xonxt took a moment to regain his composure, and made his way further down the hall. The door ahead of him was marked, "DANGER! AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY", so Xonxt went to the door on his left. It led him to a staircase. Quickly descending, he braced for another attack by the soldiers. He looked at his surroundings, and saw that he was in a tunnel. There was a yellow dotted line running down the middle of the corridor. Then, he realized that was _all_ he could see, along with his hands & the light above the door he came through.

So, he walked blindly, taking care not to step on anything sharp or trip over anything.

Much quicker than he expected, Xonxt came across a bend in the tunnel. A white light could be seen down the tunnel, and Xonxt saw a human transport vehicle, like the one on the train. One of its' lights was broken, but the other one worked fine. (Too fine, because Xonxt had to squint to avoid being blinded.)

He walked further down the tunnel, after trying a door marked "SECURITY" and only getting a negative buzzing sound.

Xonxt could hear someone whimpering, so he stopped & curiously looked at the orange-clad human, cowering behind one of the cars, holding a wrench.

"D-don't hurt me. Please, don't hurt me! I-I wasn't in-involved with the alien invasion. I'm just an elevator maintenance worker. You've got to believe me!"

The man looked up. Xonxt could see overwhelming fear in his eyes. The man's face was grimy and he had a bit of chin stubble. When he saw that Xonxt wasn't a soldier, he said,

"Oh, good. You're not one of those trigger-happy mofo soldiers, and considering you haven't fried me like an egg, you must be trying to help us, right?"

Xonxt nodded, unsure of anything the human said other than "not", "help" and "soldiers".

He stood up, dusted himself off, and extended a grimy hand.

Puzzled, Xonxt put his hand out, too, and was briefly surprised when he grabbed his hand & shook it. Taking it as a way of greeting, Xonxt tried his best to ask,

"Who are you," but it came out almost unintelligible. However, the worker seemed to get the meaning.

"My name's Redd. And they call you...?"

*_Xonxt._*

"Xonxt? Is that it, Xonxt?"

_*Yes.*_

"Hmm. Well, Xonxt, I think you and I are going to be great friends. Now, I assume you want to get out of this tunnel, right?"

Xonxt nodded again.

"Okay, see that door over there, marked, 'SECURITY'? Well, the one next to it won't open without a special key. I've got that key. _Apparently_, they don't trust me with security detail. I don't know what the system is like for your species but around here, people like me, workers, don't really get that much respect from the higher castes."

At the word, "caste", Xonxt's ears perked up.

_*Caste?*_

"Yeah. So, I take it your society uses it too, huh? Well, enough chit-chat. Let's get outta here."

Redd opened the door, and Xonxt stepped through first. Redd followed not a moment later. They ascended a staircase not dis-similar to the one Xonxt descended a little while ago.

At the top, Xonxt saw a door marked, "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY", and another door, unmarked. Assuming the unmarked door would open was, for the most part, a safe venture. What lay beyond, however, was not so safe. The door led the "dynamic duo" into a large room, with more of the lined stretches of road, and, oh goody! More soldiers.

"Hey, Xonxt. All I have is this puny wrench. You think you could work your magic on these guys?"

Xonxt nodded, charging his electrical attack. Leaping out from behind the wall, he shoved his hands forward, the speed at which he moved causing the bolt to cut a path through an unfortunate trio of soldiers who thought they could take the Vort by surprise. They fell, their midsections smoking. The other soldiers took notice, but stayed apart. Redd saw one soldier creeping up behind Xonxt, and shouted,

"_Look out_!"

The soldier stopped, turned towards Redd, and fired.

A spray of lead hit him in the chest, and he fell slumped against the wall, a sickening trail of blood following him.

Time seemed to slow as Xonxt spun 180º, and shoved the soldier headfirst into some crates. He was out cold.

Xonxt knelt by Redd's bleeding form.

"Y—agh, jeez. You did g-great." He coughed, a small trickle of blood running out the corner of his mouth.

"I've never seen moves like that before. Now, get going. I'm-" He coughed some more. A small spatter of blood hit Xonxt, who didn't seem to notice.

"I'm not gonna make it. That soldier tore me up good. Hey, give 'em--"

Redd never finished his sentence. With one last cough, he fell over, his eyes rolled up into his head, blood still trickling out his mouth.

Xonxt shuddered. One of his colleagues, no, one of his _friends_, was just killed in cold blood by another of his race.

The soldiers looked as though they enjoyed killing the scientists & workers below them, like Redd.

They. _Enjoyed_. _IT_.

If Xonxt was mad before, he was literally _glowing _white-hot with seething rage now.

Storming into the large room, he saw 2 more soldiers, laughing about how their unconscious friend killed the defenseless worker, Redd. Xonxt charged at the pair, thin green "strings" of electricity trailing behind him from his wrist shackles.

One soldier spotted him, aimed his weapon at the glowing green-brown blur speeding at him, and then...

"Heh heh-- OH GOD!"

Xonxt shoved his left hand into the soldier's gut, the current running through his hand ravaging the soldier's internal organs. He screamed in agony for a second, then fell, twitching violently.

"You sonofa-"

Xonxt did the same to the second soldier. He too, screamed in agony, and depressed the trigger on his rifle, which proceeded to turn the wall in front of it to swiss cheese.

He looked up, and saw the very same blue-suited man, holding the very same briefcase he did when Xonxt was on the train.

'_Now's my chance_!'

Drawing electricity from random objects near him, Xonxt fired, and scored a direct hit on the man's face.

But nothing happened.

Trying again, this time taking in more charge, he fired. Still no effect.

'_How can he simply brush off my attacks?! No human is invincible! WHY CAN'T I _KILL HIM?!'

The man brushed something off his tie, smirked, then walked away to parts unknown.

Before Xonxt could start cursing him out, he heard shuffling behind him. Turning around, he saw his would-be assassin, staggering slightly, brandishing a large multi-barreled weapon.

"Looks like we got your little friend, ya b**tard." His smile took on a sadistic tone.

Xonxt began "charging", but the soldier dropped his weapon and was on the vortigaunt in less than a second, a knife to the creature's throat.

Xonxt shoved the soldier away, then ran. He eyed the soldier's now ownerless weapon curiously, wondering if he could use it. He attempted to pick it up, but the bloody thing was just too heavy. So, Xonxt waited until the soldier was in front of the barrels, and fired. The soldier barely had any time to react before everything he had below the knees was eviscerated instantaneously. He screamed & swore, but Xonxt paid no mind. The grunt clawed his way out of the line of fire, took aim, and then...

Time stopped.

A figure stepped out of the shadows.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

This chapter was LONG! Also, for those of you who played/discussed/watched videos of F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin should know who the the elevator maintenance worker was a reference to. Also, the soldier w/ the minigun was a reference to Victor, a character in SuperChocolateBear's HL2 novel-fic: Welcome to City 17, which I loved.


	8. Welcome To Earht Part 3

HλLF-LIFE: PΘIΠT ΘF VIΣЩ

Chapter Eight: Welcome To Earth Part 3 of 3

Valve owns Half-Life

POV Team(Toadman, DAV & Doc Brown) owns Point of View

_Time stopped._

_A figure stepped out of the shadows._

Xonxt's vision blurred, and his gaze was fixed on the soldier who he tried to kill moments ago. He was horrified to see the trooper's legs reform!

It was almost like the damage was being reversed. Bone, muscle, blood & skin materialized out of nowhere & soon enough, the soldier was back on his newly formed feet, brandishing the minigun with ease.

Xonxt begged for the shadowy figure to help him, but it was gone. Xonxt got up, and ran.

The soldier was faster, smacking Xonxt on the back of the head with his minigun, knocking him down.

He rolled over, finding himself staring down the topmost barrel of the minigun.

"Sayonara, dirtbag."

Just as the gun wound up, his radio crackled.

"Foxtrot-Zero-Two, get your a** down here now!"

"Roger that, control." He looked to Xonxt, hatred burning in his eyes. "_Don't_. _Move_. _A_. _Muscle_." He punctuated each word with a sharp jab to Xonxt's chest.

Xonxt watched the grunt walk away, behind one of the cars, and lost sight of him.

Whether because of rage, or just a sudden rebellious urge, he stood up & walked up the stairs he thought would lead to where the suited man went. He can't have gotten far.

After heading across the catwalk he spotted his adversary occupying moments ago, he came to a crossroads, 3 different directions the man could have gone, and only one was correct. Xonxt went forward, as when he tried the doors on his left & right, they were locked.

The door took him into what looked like a large cave system, interlaced with copious amounts of human technology.

After going through a small passage on his left & climbing a rusty ladder, Xonxt came up to the surface once again, the sky taking on an orange-yellow tint along with its' usual light blue hue, creating a sense of soothing peacefulness within Xonxt.

A series of explosions snapped Xonxt out of his trance and made him jump, and not a second later, a large aircraft came hurtling down to earth, smoke & flame billowing from both engines and its' tail. It crashed into a fence, obscene amounts of electricity arcing between the downed craft & what remained of the fence (or rather, the part of the fence it pulverized). Xonxt saw a corpse of the lesser soldiers he fought back in Xen. Except, it wasn't a corpse.

The soldier was still alive! Xonxt watched in amazement as he struggled to get up, took a few wobbly steps, and collapsed, unconscious.

Xonxt debated on whether he should just finish the soldier off, or carry him out of the warzone. However, the electricity turning the remains of the transport into smoldering ruins told Xonxt that he should find another way around. Some blinking lights and a bright red ladder answered the unspoken question, but raised many more.

He descended, and as he neared the bottom, the particular section of ladder he was on decided that it was tired of its' meager, pointless existence, and came loose from the wall.

Xonxt fell, but wasn't seriously injured. He wandered through more of the mineshafts until coming across a pair of dead alien grunts. He snatched their detached "thornet" hive weapons, and proceeded deep into the caverns. The creatures on his arms squealed and squirmed, apparently begging to be put back with their deceased owners. Xonxt didn't listen, and after seeing their abilities when a foolish soldier thought he could take the vortigaunt by surprise, he developed great feelings of admiration for the living hives.

After what felt like an eternity of exploring, he came to a large hole in the rocky terrain, sighed when the thornet-hives thrashed & wailed, and placed them side-by-side next to the hole, then leapt in.

The water he plunged into was not only warmer, but much more shallow than he expected at first. But, when you're born with only one eye, the concept of depth-perception is an extremely alien(hehe) concept.

He heard a cage door slam, looked up, and saw a soldier talking with one of the scientists.

"I hope you know what you're doing."

"Listen, you do your job, I'll do mine, and we'll all walk out of here happy, and alive. Got it?"

"Okay. Here's the tranquilizer." The scientist hefted an angular weapon, with a single, needle-like projectile protruding from the front end, and a taut cable holding said projectile in place. The soldier took it, aimed, and Xonxt instinctively ducked.

He felt a sharp something stab him in the arm, his limbs grew heavy, and he collapsed, letting the clutching blackness take him into his land of peace and tranquility.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

This chapter wasn't particularly long, but it was fun to write. I added the tranquilizer scene at the end to spice up the part where Xonxt gets captured, as in-game, the screen simply fades to black & loads the next chapter, which in writing is _BORING_! And for those of you who know who the soldier was, the one Xonxt couldn't decide to kill or help, Adrian Shephard (the soldier I'm talking about) doesn't die. He gets carried off by his squad's medic & then wakes up in Black Mesa's infirmary. And that little bit at the start, where the soldier gets his legs back, I put in to kind of emphasize j_ust_ how much we don't know about the G-man's powers. More Xonxt vs. Foxtrot 02 action(not like that! I know _someone_'sthinkin' it!) in the next chapter. Peace, and may the LOL's be with you!


	9. The Great Escape

HλLF-LIFE: PΘIΠT ΘF VIΣЩ

Chapter Nine: The Great Escape

Valve owns Half-Life

POV Team(Toadman, DAV & Doc Brown) owns Point of View

* * *

Xonxt awoke, his head throbbing & his limbs tingling. He also noticed he was standing up, in some kind of human pod-like device, and it appeared to be moving backwards, a scientist following the vehicle. A few seconds later, the vehicle stopped, the scientist pressed a few buttons, and it moved into a small room. The scientist left, and the doors closed, leaving Xonxt alone in this concrete labyrinth.

The way the humans' structures were designed baffled & confounded Xonxt to no end. Each & every structure was, "the same pre-fabricated chunk, all interconnected as needed", he mused. How they _ever_ got around effectively was beyond him. After a failed escape attempt, Xonxt figured the best option was to sleep until he was either let out, or killed. So, he slept.

Time passed, how much Xonxt had no clue. But when he awoke again, he found himself face-to-face with one of the security personnel.

"End of the line, 'friend'. Heh heh heh." The guard's voice showed only disgust with the alien, and an anxiety to get this over with.

Xonxt tried to sleep again, only to be awakened by blaring sirens, gunfire, his fellows' chattering & growling, and...

Wait.

Gunfire? Sirens? How did the other Xenians get in here?

Xonxt's head hurt again. He must have slumped over & hit his head on the window behind him.

After tanking in the scene around him, Xonxt heard a loud clanging sound, getting closer to his position. A Warrior (Alien Grunt) came charging around the corner, smashed through the rail that was designed to keep people from falling off the catwalk, and barreled straight into Xonxt's pod. Somehow, through a stroke of luck, Xonxt had been spared a gruesome death. The Warrior wasn'r so lucky though. Xonxt rather didn't want to make a detailed mental image for himself, and so, exited the room. Once again, he was confronted with 2 metal doors.

_'Which one, which one? Which one?! D**mit!'_

He pounded the offending metal portal.

Despite the sleep, Xonxt felt wiry, strung out, emotionally unbalanced. After taking a moment to calm himself, he chose the most logical option: forward.

The door slid open with a clang, and Xonxt saw some Bullsquids in cages. Some had white markings at the ends of their tentacles, others simply had a brownish skin color, no spots, but a hook-like spur at the tip of their tails.

_'At least it's easy to tell which is which'_, Xonxt thought. _'Makes it so much easier to breed them. A lot like the antlions.'_

Before he got too far into his memories, Xonxt crept up behind an unwary guard, laying back in a chair, feet propped up on a desk.

A magazine was in the guard's hands, titled, "The Truth about Aliens: How to Combat Your Inner Xenophobe". Inadvertently, Xonxt found himself muttering insults in Vortigese, and the next thing he knew, his back was slammed less than comfortably against the glass of one of the Bullsquid cages. The rifle barrel pressed against his neck didn't help much either.

"You want this?" the guard said, eyeing the card on the desk.

Xonxt blinked, unable to do much else.

"Well, too bad, so sad."

He smacked Xonxt across the face with the butt of his rifle, which had become quite annoying to the Xenian.

"You're not touching that card. You hear me?!"

The bullsquid directly opposite Xonxt burst from its' cage, roared like a perverse cross between a pig & some kind of demon creature, and hurled a glob of greenish-yellow acid at the guard, who turned around a second too early. The acid-ball splattered against his face, sending him down screaming in ear-splitting agony. He fired at the squid, many bullets missing their mark, but one hit it square in the eye and went through, piercing its' brain. It gurgled softly, and collapsed, acid dribbling out of its' mouth, fizzling on the tiles. The guard had fallen unconscious from the pain, but Xonxt knew he wasn't dead. He busted open the other cage, the squid walked out, and began eating the guard. Xonxt took the card, trying to ignore the nauseating squelching noises as the Bullsquid ate its' meal. The label on the device read, "H3-23".

Xonxt wandered the halls, killing soldiers, and searching for the door. It was a mundane task, but thankfully, it didn't last too long. He also picked up a HiveHand along the way.

He stepped through the doorway, and found himself in a shorter system of hallways, the doors he found were locked. But on his way out, he found...

'_A mounted gun!_'

Xonxt had trained in the use of mounted human weapons, and quickly put his lessons to good use, shredding "lesser" soldiers as they charged in with reckless abandon.

The assault lasted all of 16 minutes, give or take. Xonxt pressed forward, and was shocked to find another tank, ready to fire! It's turret aimed at the vortigaunt, and fired. There was a loud bang, as the shell discharged and blew a piece of the floor out, peppering Xonxt with shrapnel, but otherwise doing nthing. A door on the other side of the room burst open, a Gargantua leapt onto the tank, crushing it under its' weight.

The vehicle exploded in a brilliant display of fire & sparks, and seconds later, the garg did too.

Xonxt went through the still warm doorway, sent his pet insects through the faces of some more soldiers, scientists, and guards, and came across a room with computers lining the walls. Two buttons were perched side-by-side on the wall, Xonxt pressed them, and all h*ll broke loose.

More Xenians teleported in in a room unseen by Xonxt, and both they, and the soldiers guarding whatever was in there, were slaughtered.

Xonxt arrived in said room, which turned out to be a hangar, housing a single Xen Manta, which bobbed slightly as it kept itself aloft.

'_Maybe I can use that to get out of here,_' Xonxt thought.

Seeing no way _into_ the manta, he climbed on top of the creature, which promptly rose high into the air, and sped off toward parts unknown.

Xonxt laid down on the ship when he found a spot that he knew he wouldn't fall from, and caught up on the detailed examination of the inside of his eyelids.

If he knew what drugs were, the vortigaunt could, and would, safely say that he really _was_ sky-high...

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Sorry for the delay, but I couldn't really get ideas together for this chapter. Also, I think this is the first one-shot chapter I've done in this story.


	10. Battling The Beast

HλLF-LIFE: PΘIΠT ΘF VIΣЩ

Chapter Ten: Battling The Beast

Valve owns Half-Life

POV Team(Toadman, DAV & Doc Brown) owns Point of View

* * *

The warbling/humming of the Manta had lulled Xonxt to sleep. He was dreaming, of being free from his cursed shackles, free to live a life of true peace & impulse. But, the dream took a turn for the worse. He found himself falling down a fiery hole, rings of it flashing upwards in split-seconds. He tried to scream, no sound came. His master, Nihilanth, laughed a cruel, deep, reverbrating laugh that echoed through his subconscious.

Xonxt awoke with a jolt. The Manta had stopped, hovering over a small shack. The sand lacked a visible natural landmark except for a few cacti. He departed from his ride, which flew off as soon as he hit the ground. He inspected his surroundings. The shack had a single door, that had a padlock & chains barring its' opening. However, the chains were loosened, and the lock busted. Xonxt opened the door, and was greeted by a rat trying to gouge his eye out. He slapped it away, and descended a ladder which led into a sewer.

Xonxt sighed. This was going to be a long day.

He wandered the tunnel, sloshing throug the muck, and came across a door. It slid open upon him nearing it, and after pressing a seemingly useless button, he continued on.

The other end of the tunnel wasn't as friendly to him. More of the elite soldiers assailed him, as well as odd-looking spheres that directed small energy blasts much like the larger lamp-like turrets of his homeworld. They had a strang familiarity to them, but Xonxt couldn't place it. Then, the realizaiton hit him.

They were miniature versions of his XTBU project!

But why were they attacking him? One of the sphere's energy blasts hit Xonxt in the stomach, almost knocking him off his feet. He tried to tame the spheres, but they showed no positive response, and so, Xonxt had to kill them, which he felt remorse for.

He jogged down the tunnel until he came across a large room, crates populating the area and making it look like a maze.

Perfect place for an ambush...

Xonxt readied himself, and as if on cue, the soldiers leapt out, firing their assorted weapons. Xonxt's HiveHand was constantly on the job, firing thornets by the dozens until it just couldn't muster the strength to eject the little dart-like creatures anymore. But, on the upside, there was no longer any opposition, giving the hive (and Xonxt) time to catch their breath.

Continuing onward to wherever he was going, it took him a few minutes to realize that he was in a kind of laboratory. He wandered the halls until he saw an Alien Grunt munching on a worker's corpse. Xonxt tried to sneak past it, but the Grunt saw him, and smacked him across the corridor, sending him bouncing off the walls. He glared at the metal-plated monster, unsteadily got to his feet, and fired more thornets at it. They embedded themselves in its' chest & eyes. It fell with a mighty clang, its' groan fading with its' life.

Now his own brothers were attacking him?! It didn't make any sense. Why not just have killed him the second they saw him interacting with the humans, why wait?

A sonic boom ripped through his conscious.

Nihilanth had strictly told all Xenians to kill the humans that stole the XTBU, even if they weren't directly responsible.

Redd.

Xonxt seethed. He felt violated to have been in the presence of his "fellow" Xenians now, even if the humans' soldiers were the ones who killed Redd, the pain was just the same. The other Xenians were primitive, unfazed by the humans' attempted acts of kindness.

'_Am I going to end up like them? Slaves to the masses, unable to posess any free-will, to express myself?'_

Xonxt had decided.

He was no longer going to serve the Nihilanth.

His new objective: Escape this h*llhole and overthrow his ex-master.

He noticed a door, and the control panel next to it was sparking. Xonxt tapped a few buttons, but it buzzed negatively. He fired a trio of thornets at it, and the panel exploded! Xonxt thought he had just trapped himself in here, but the door opened, and unfortunately, it led to a nasty fall into a lake of lava. A bridge could be seen jutting from the other side. The suited man wandered into view, un-excitedly pressed a few buttons, and the bridge connected to Xonxt's end ot the chasm. He then walked out of view, never to be seen again.

Xonxt jogged across the bridge, and entered a large room. The "floor" was actually a large metal grate, allowing the bubbling lava to be viewed safely. Unfortunately, the "safety" factor was pretty much null and void. Xonxt could feel the heat scorching his body. The HiveHand squirmed & squealed in discomfort.

3 pairs of concrete pillars held up the ceiling in the center of the room. And then Xonxt saw it.

A large red creature with a single red eye lumbered out from behind a large stack of concrete cubes.

It roared at the interloper, and Xonxt instinctively ducked behind the closest pillar between him & the creature. The Panthereye drew in energy from the lava, the streams a deadly red, and discharged the beam at the pillar Xonxt was hiding behind. It crumbled like a leaf, leaving the vortigaunt exposed. Leaping forward, Xonxt tried to claw the Panthereye's eye out, but it swiped him away.

Xonxt sailed through the air for a split second, and hit the wall with a painful thud. The Panthereye charged at him, building up more energy. Xonxt squeezed the gland inside the Hive with all his strength.

A flurry of insects perforated the red devil's eye, sending it howling to the ground in a heap. Xonxt shakily got to his feet (he seemed to be getting knocked down a lot lately), checked that he didn't have any life-threatening injuries, and went out the warped doorway opposite the one he entered the room with.

He had just turned a corner when another of the green/white camo clad soldiers ambushed him.

Xonxt tried to fire the HiveHand at him, but he ripped the weapon off his arm, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it, a sickly yellow puddle of blood forming under it. Xonxt charged an electric attack, and hit a grenade on the soldier's belt. He screamed, and then in a bright firey flash, ceased to exist.

Xonxt moved with a bit more care through the next few corridors. He came across a large hanger, a tank sitting right in the middle. Fortunately, no one was driving it. Xonxt saw a ladder leading up to a control booth, climbed it, and was rewarded with a piteously weak slap to the face. A scientist, looking much worse for the wear, was soon sprawled on the floor below, a large claw-mark in his chest.

He looked up, and saw a crane moving towards the center of the room, a barrel of highly volatile petroleum precariously dangling from it. He pressed the button inside the booth, and the barrel fell. When it impacted the tank, it gouged a hole in the bottom, allowing the fuel to leak out. Then, as metal scraped against metal, a spark ignited the petrol, blowing the tank to kingdom come, along with the ammunition inside it, and even a large chunk of the floor.

Seconds later, more Spheres teleported in, and opened fire on the booth.

It exploded, and Xonxt plummeted into the hole he had created.

_CRACK!!_ He was unconscious.

Several minutes later, Xonxt awoke. He saw a soldier, running away from the tank's remains, holding a shiny chrome object.

'_The XTBS. No..._'

He couldn't find the strength to stand, and so, Xonxt crawled after the Grunt, unable to even curse the human out without fear of shutting down completely from the trauma he had suffered over this 9+ hour trek.

The steady thrumming of a helicopter's blades somehow invigorated Xonxt just enough to get to his knees.

The end was near, not for Xonxt, not for the humans, not even for the Suit.

But for the oppresion he and his kin had suffered for generations.

**Author's Notes:**

"The end is near" indeed. What crazy adventures will our hero get into next? Will he ever get the XTBU back? Will he truly earn his freedom? Find out in the last chapter of Xen's Point of View: _The End Is Near_.


End file.
